Ryan – a story of hope from the neonatology of ‘Mama and I’
Ryan is one of those tiny and struggling children born prematurely that we call little heroes. He is the Miracle-before-Christmas for a family from a small town in Northern Bulgaria – after a two-month stay in the neonatology department of the newest maternity and children clinic in the country, Mama and I, the little one is now home with his parents.
“Ryan was born much earlier than normal. The average duration of a pregnancy is 40 gestational weeks. He came into the world at 30 gestational weeks and in an emergency, with a real life-threatening condition of the mother. At birth he weighed only 1300 g”, says Dr. Andrey Hristov, head of the neonatology at ‘Mama and I’.
“I had a problem pregnancy during which I was consulted and treated in a clinic in Sofia. After stabilizing my condition, the doctors sent me home with the agreement that if necessary I would be admitted to hospital immediately. However, complications came unexpectedly – profuse hemorrhage from an almost completely detached placenta sent me to the hospital in the peripheral city of Pleven as an emergency. My condition was dangerous both for my child’s life and for myself,” says Ryan’s mother.
“Thanks to the professional and quick actions of the colleagues from the multidisciplinary hospital, the young woman was resuscitated and immediately, without delay, was placed on the operating table for an emergency caesarean section. The result was the birth of Ryan at 30 weeks gestation,” says Dr. Hristov. The little one was immediately taken in by the on-call pediatrician, but in practice was extremely unprepared to live without anyone else’s help as a result of the premature birth. The doctors performed primary resuscitation of the newborn and created the necessary conditions for his transportation. In order to save the baby’s life, they turn to the ‘Mama and I’ teams because they know well the capabilities and achievements of the new children’s clinic, including the care of extremely immature children.
Upon receiving information about the case in the neonatology clinic of ‘Mama and I’, the doctors immediately formed a team and went to the settlement with the specialized neonatology resuscitation vehicle equipped with an intensive transport cuvee and a respirator. Within an hour and 15 minutes of the call, the resuscitation team from Pleven arrives at the scene.
“We had to immediately intubate Rayan and put him on ventilator, cannulate a vein for intravenous infusion of drugs. This happened right there on the spot, we got our intensive transport cuvee into the operating room itself to accomplish all of this activity on an emergency basis. After being transported to Pleven, Ryan was admitted to the intensive care unit of our neonatology department,” Dr. Hristov continues to tell us. The good teamwork of the doctors from both hospitals, their professionalism and the availability of modern equipment give a little hero a chance to live.
Two months of care and attention from the whole team followed. “Ryan had a very difficult time – he had to be given artificial respiration, we also injected a special substance into his lung so he could absorb oxygen, antibiotics, plasma, blood, and he underwent a number of tests. He is now in stable condition, clinically healthy and weighing 2800 g. Eventually our story has its happy ending and our child is home,” the parents excitedly shared.
“What is also important to us is the quality of life the child will have after discharge. I am happy that the screening tests performed on Ryan showed that he has no eye involvement, we discharge him without any signs of respiratory failure and without the need for additional breathing support at home,” says Dr. Andrey Hristov. He concludes, “Ryan’s story is a story of goodness that brings hope and needs to be told. Because children are our most precious!”
